Pursuing Solutions for Renovation and Restoration Work at 272 Clinton Ave.
Fashioning a relevant future out of a memorable past at 272 Clinton Ave. This photo was taken at the Yesterday’s Tomorrow Exhibit of Gallery House
The DGT Alumni Association’s (DGT) Board of Directors, Tom Fiorella, Asa Maria Camnert, Tom Wong, Gil Gerald and Anne Marie Michael, is set to meet on Saturday, April 11 to make a final decision on retaining Attorney Andrew Plyler, Associate at Mann and Wolf, LLP. If retained the firm will be engaged to assist DGT in nailing down and initiating a wraparound facility development project, including a financing solution. Mann & Wolf specialties include residential real estate and real estate financing. They were recommended by Perlman & Perlman, attorneys specializing in nonprofit law retained by DGT in 2013. They successfully helped DGT emerge out of years of lack of full compliance with Federal, State and local non-profit law and taxation requirements. Mann & Wolf, in late 2019, recommended that DGT could fashion a better solution than the ground lease agreement being investigated by the Board. Plyler indicated that approach would unnecessarily tie up DGT’s property for decades and limit DGT’s control and access to the building in a manner somewhat short of what the Board had hoped.
In a March conference call with DGT’s President, Treasurer, Secretary and Tax Accountant (John Sattler, CPA PC of Sattler & Co.), Plyler indicated that Mann & Wolf could assist DGT to identify and obtain a financing solution along with property and design and construction management services within a framework that takes into account the substantial equity in the property, the potential marketability and profitability of renovated rental units, and our desire for continued use of the property for Gallery House and DGT reunions and meetings. A late March meeting of the full Board led to a consensus decision to obtain fee information and responses to additional questions. Plyler has responded with a retainer agreement proposal and detailed answers. DGT, now somewhat recovered from the assault of expenses in recent years to address building repairs and systems needs, is holding off a few weeks to ascertain the extent to which current tenants are able or not to maintain their rent payments in view of the Coronavirus epidemic and associated job losses. According to up to date bookkeeping, DGT has more than $20K in the bank, has reduced its credit card bill of $28K by half, and the balance is quickly being paid off. The Board, made up 100% of volunteers, is fully cognizant of its limitations to execute such a project with the inherent limitations of available personal time.
The Board plans to create a working group that includes Board members and an additional two to three DGT members who are Architects to help oversee the project and inform design solutions. DGT will likely also pursue the possibility that one of its members could function as the Architect for the project at a discounted fee if offered. The Board also invites, encourages and welcomes feedback from members on an ongoing basis. There will be hard decisions to be made even though considerable effort has been underway since 2013 to obtain and document member input on what should be done as DGT seeks to preserve key interior features, mostly on the Chapter/Bar Room Floor, and in the stairwell, that make the space memorable from a DGT history standpoint, but also functional for Gallery House. The Gallery House Internship Program is DGT’s current strategy for engaging and retaining a close and memorable community for today’s undergraduates. Correspondence to the 272 Clinton Avenue Working Group should be addressed to the President, TFiorella@dgtaa.org with a cc to the Secretary, ggerald@dgtaa.org.